Engine heater



`Aug# 4 1964 L.. E. wlNDsoR 3,143,634

ENGINE HEATER Filed May e, 1961v United States Patent O 3,143,634 ENGINE HEATER Lynne Everett Windsor, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada,

assignor to .lames B. Carter Limited, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Filed May 8, 1961, Ser. No. 108,629 1 Claim. (Cl. 219-208) My invention'relates to new and useful improvements in engine heaters, particularly engine heaters adapted for use with iluid cooled internal combustion engines.

It is conventional to utilize the expansion of frost plug apertures normally found within the walls of uid cooled engines and it will be appreciated that, particularly with present day car engines, the positioning of an engine heater within the block is extremely diiiicult due to the confined space available therein. It will also be appreciated that the heater element of such a block heater cannot he allowed to touch the block walls or any portions of the engine protruding into the fluid spaces otherwise the element will burn out after a very short time.

Due to the large number of different types of engines encountered and due to the continuing change of construction of such engines, it is extremely dicult to produce an engine heater which can be utilized on more than one particular type of engine.

This leads to considerable manufacturing costs as different heaters have to be designed for dilerent engines and different models and it is diiiicult to maintain suiiicient stock at al1 times without the risk of over production and subsequent obsolescence occurring.

By providing a mounting element which is cup shaped similar to existing frost or expansion plugs, and mounting a heating element eccentrically upon the mounting element, I can not only position the heating element through 360 but also, by rotating the mounting element before placing same within the frost plug aperture, I can locate the extremity of the heating element in any position within limits.

The principal object and essence of my invention is therefore to provide a device of the character herewithin described which permits a variety of positions to be obtained when itting same, thus making one particular type of engine heater applicable to several different types of automotive engines.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin described in which is provided considerable flexibility of positioning the heating element when installing same.

A yet further object of my invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin described which is provided with an extremely simple means of clamping the engine heater to the mounting element which in turn, is easily secured within a conventional frost or expansion plug aperture.

A yet further object of my invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin described which is simple in installation, economical in manufacture and otherwise well suited to the purpose for which it is designed.

With the foregoing objects in view, and such other objects and advantages as will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates as this specification proceeds, my invention consists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts all as hereinafter more particularly described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded view of my engine heater.

FIGURE 2 is a side sectional elevation of the heater shown installed within an engine block wall.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

3,143,634 Patented Aug. 4,1964` ICC 12. This ange 11 is adapted to frictionally engage the conventional frost of expansion plug aperture 13 formed in the engine wall 14 as clearly shown in FIGURE 2. An inner nut-15consists of an externally screw threaded cylindrical body 16 and an annular flange 17`formed thereon upon the inner end thereof.

A conventional heating element 18 is provided which consists of a suitable resistance wire (not illustrated) encased in a tubular sheath 19 of copper or other suitable material. The resistance wire is supported and insulated from the sheath by compacted mass of magnesium oxide or other suitable insulating material and is conventional in construction.

This heating element is U-shaped as shown and the ends 20 terminate with terminal portions 21 whereby a removable plug and cord assembly can attach same to the electrical power supply.

The ends 20 pass through apertures 22 within the inner nut 15 and are brazed into position in the conventional manner.

An outer nut 23 is provided with an internally screw threaded cylindrical portion 24 and a wrench engaging portion 25 and this internally screw threaded portion 24 is adapted to engage the screw threaded portion 16 of the inner nut 15.

An aperture 26 is provided within the plate portion 12 of the mounting element, said aperture being eccentrically formed therein. In other words the portion 16 of the inner nut is adapted to pass through this aperture and be engaged by the outer nut 23 thereby clamping the mounting element between the two portions and making a solid `unit prior to insertion within the engine wall 14.

It is desirable to provide a ilexible sealing gasket 27 between the flange 17 and the face of the mounting element in order to prevent cooling fluid from leaking past the heating element after installation.

In operation, and depending upon the location of any obstruction within the cooling cavities of the engine, the outer and inner nuts are loosely threaded together and the heating element is rotated until the desired position is obtained.

The mounting element may then be inserted within the frost plug aperture 13 and driven home thus completing the installation of the heating element.

Due to the eccentric position of the aperture 26, it will be appreciated that by rotating the mounting element prior to insertion, the extremity 28 of the heating element may be positioned over a greater range of positions than if this aperture were centrally located.

For example, if the center of the aperture is half an inch off center of the mounting element, then a throw of one inch is provided for the extremity 28 of the heating element, this throw extending through 360 due to the rotatability of the heating element within the mounting element prior to tightening the outer and inner nuts to- 'gethen Since various modifications can be made in my invention as hereinabove described, and many apparently widely dilierent embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claim without departing from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim as my invention is:

For use in a coolant jacket of a combustion engine having a jacket wall provided with a circular opening,

a variably positionable engine heater comprising in combination, a circularcup-shaped plug adapted to be frictionally pressed into and held in the stated circular opening of the jacket Wall, said plug being provided with an eccentrically disposedcircular aperture which by virtue 0f its eccentric 'disposition is located closer toA one side` edge portionI of the plug than to its diameterically opposite side edge portion so that location of said aperturey relative to thev stated coolant jacket may be varied by rolindjrical externally screw-threaded mounting member rotatably positioned in the. aperture of said plug and provided at one endy thereofwith a ange abutting the plug at the insidev of the coolant jacket, Vasubstantially U- shaped electric heatingy element having a pair of'angul-ated terminal portionsextending through and secured in said mounting member with the heating element projecting radially outwardly therefrom, and a nut provided on said mounting member in abutment with said plug at the outside of the coolant jacket for locking the mounting member against rotation in said aperture with said heating element oriented in a selected radial direction from the eccentrically disposed aperture in said plug.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,401,847 Urbant et al a June 1l, 1946 2,508,721 Ladue May 23, 1950 V2,620,429 Boger et al. Dec; 2, 1952. 2,783,352 McKay Feb, 26, 1957 2,824,945 Derumaux Feb'. 25, 1958 

